


The Hunter and The Warrior

by SilverMoon53



Series: Silver's Summer '18 Fic-a-thon [12]
Category: Class of the Titans
Genre: 5+1 Things, Aromantic Character, Canon Compliant, F/M, aromantic Atlanta, but Everyone thinks they are, just your typical shipfic but oops one of them is aromantic and doesnt know it yet, not dating, shes aromantic you can fight me on that but you won't win
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:57:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoon53/pseuds/SilverMoon53
Summary: Archie and Atlanta are most definitely Not Dating, but everyone seems to think they are. But they’re not. Really.or5 Times Archie and Atlanta definitely did not go on a date and one time they did





	The Hunter and The Warrior

1\. Cronus’ Flying Circus

The first time they go on Not-A-Date, the thought of it being a date hadn’t crossed either of their minds. There was a circus in town, and given how cirus-like their lives had become, they figured it would be nice to visit a literal one, if for no other reason than to get a comparison. Besides, Melampus was legendary, and Atlanta was excited to watch the animals perform. Archie agreed to tag along, though he kept changing his reason why. It varied from “I just want to see how bad it is” to “It does sound pretty cool” to “It’ll be nice to get away from Gods and monster for a bit.” 

It wasn’t until one of the others had called it a date that either of them even thought about it that way. Their reactions were instant, and both denied it. 

“It’s not a date,” she told them, face scrunched distastefully at the thought.

“We’re not dating,” Archie insisted, though his laugh was uneasy and unconvinced. “No!”

“The more the merrier,” Atlanta finished, laughing as she turned to walk away. Secretly, she desperately hoped the others would follow, suddenly terrified at being alone with Archie. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t like him. He was a great guy, and a good friend. It was just that she didn’t like him _that_ way. She had never liked anyone _that_ way, and besides, there was too much going on in their lives to waste time worrying about romance. 

She pushed the tease from her mind and didn’t think of it again.

 

2\. Pandemonium

She had invited him to tag along with her, not really expecting him to say yes. The rally needed numbers, and she liked spending time with him. 

She introduced him to her friends, pointedly ignoring the looks they shot her way. 

“Nice place to take a guy for a date, Atlanta,” one of them teased while others chortled good naturedly. 

“It’s not a date,” Atlanta laughed back easily, used to the banter among friends.

“Keep telling yourself that,” another said, while another added “You might wanna tell him that.” 

They all laughed at that, then the rally began and there was no more time for talking. Atlanta worked her way through the crowd to find Archie. He looked so out of place, unsure of himself and what he was doing, but perked up when she threw her arms around his shoulders. She thanked him for coming, and was going to add something to make sure he knew it wasn’t a date when she saw something glowing off to the side. 

Saving the world is more important than sorting out her love life (or lack thereof) so the thought slipped from her mind and didn’t resurface.

 

3\. Applet of Discord

Archie wasn’t the best movie companion, but he was the one who invited her to go and it was a movie Atlanta wanted to see, so why not? 

Because everything always goes sideways in her life, that’s why. 

It wasn’t too bad at the start, just Archie making his usual snide and wholly unnecessary comments about the fight scenes. He wasn’t wrong about any of it, but he never said anything Atlanta didn’t already know and she just wanted to enjoy the movie. Then that ringtone played and there was yelling and a fight broke out and this, this she knew how to do. 

Archie and Atlanta were the last two in the theatre, and it took two staff members to finally tear them apart. They physical fight halted but they kept yelling at each other.

“This was the worst date ever!” Archie snarled at her as soon as they had been removed from the theatre.

“It wasn’t a date!” Atlanta yelled back, her surprise at him calling it that vastly overwhelmed by her anger. 

“Good! Because if it was, that was the worst one ever.” 

“Oh, and whose fault would that be?”

“Not mine, that’s for sure,” Archie scoffed, leading the march back home.

“What?! No, _you_ started it,” Atlanta shot back. The fight continued until Jay and Theresa appeared and dragged them apart. Despite the anger still raging inside of her, Atlanta felt a small glimmer of relief that it had not been a date. 

 

4\. Like a Rolling Stone

“You two really have the worst luck in dates, don’t you?” Theresa asked. The question startled Atlanta enough to make her stumble. 

“W-what?” she sputtered once she regained her balance. “What are you talking about?”

Theresa rolled her eyes. “You and Archie? How you two can’t seem to just go on a date and not have something go wrong?”

“I- _what?_ ” Atlanta asked again, genuinely confused. It was a few days after the incident with Sisyphus, and the two of them were idly wandering the mall. 

“Really?” Theresa raised her eyebrows and sighed. “Come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how all of your dates end badly. I mean, just the other day, you two were on a skating date, right? Jay told me what happened after I got kidnapped. Then there was the time you two went to see a movie and we had to deal with Eris, and your nature rally date, and I’m sure there’s more you haven’t told us about.”

Atlanta said nothing for a few moments, trying and failing to ignore the way the pit in her stomach grew. “Those weren’t dates,” she finally choked out, voice level and quiet. “We’re not dating.”

“Yeah, sure,” Theresa scoffed, but there was a teasing glimmer in her eye. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“We’re not,” Atlanta snapped. “Just drop it, okay?” Theresa flinched back, smile dropping.

“Yeah,” she said. “Sorry.”

Atlanta said nothing.

 

5\. The Deep End

He was the one to call it a date.

He was the one to give her an ultimatum.

“Either you feel the same way I do, or you don’t.” 

She didn’t. 

She did feel for him. She cared for him deeply, cared for him as a friend and maybe something more. She cared for him different, too, than she cared for Theresa and the others, and she felt for him in ways she didn’t have the words for. She wanted him to be happy. 

But she had seen the way Theresa and Jay looked at each other, seen how couples in the streets and in the mall and on TV and in the movies looked at each other, seen the way _he_ looked at _her_ , and she knew the way he felt for her. 

And she didn’t feel that way for him. She was afraid of saying that, of hurting him and ruining what they had so she told him a different truth. 

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” Her words hurt him anyway and she almost lost him because of it. 

Theresa asked her what the problem with being on a date was. Atlanta didn’t answer, didn’t have the words, but made up her mind. She managed to tell him another half truth, another not-quite-whole truth, when she told him she didn’t know what she would do if she lost him. 

She knew she still didn’t feel the same way he did. But she did feel something for him, and maybe that would be enough. 

 

+1

“Wanna go get dinner or something?” The words tumbled from her mouth in a rush. They felt unnatural, like they didn’t belong, and she felt a blush heat up her cheeks. She couldn’t keep looking at him and turned away, hating how vulnerable the question made her feel. 

“Yeah, sure. I think Odie and Neil are free later, want to make a it a group thing?” He didn’t look up at her, blissfully unaware of her discomfort. For a second, she desperately wanted to say yes, to bail on this before it really began, then she steeled herself.

“No. I mean, no. Just the two of us.” She swallowed thickly, tongue heavy and reluctant. “Like as a date.” 

“Oh. Oh!” Archie finally looked up, Atlanta turning back to meet his eager gaze with a forced smile. “Yeah, sure! I mean, um, I’d really lo- I’d really like that.” His smile was so happy, so easy and natural. Atlanta expected it to cheer her up, to remove the pit of despair from deep within her. He said yes, surely that was the source of her discomfort! But the pit only grew as she paid half-attention to the plans they made. 

The date itself was awkward. It was Atlanta’s first, and all she knew about what to do was what she had seen on tv or had been told by Theresa. In all honesty, she had never paid much attention to either, unable to find enough interest in the topic to give it a second thought. She felt stiff and uncomfortable the whole time, too focused on trying to figure out what to do and say to actually do any of it. She hated every moment.

For his part, Archie was even more twitchy than usual, stumbling over words and fumbling with his fork and knife. But he looked so happy, eyes lit up with joy enough that it was contagious and Atlanta tried to get lost in them, they way the girls always do in books. 

In the end, it wasn’t the worst experience of her life. The walk home was the best part, the two of them chatting as easily as ever. The only difference was his sweaty hand in hers, and the dead fish kiss on her cheek when he walked her to her door. 

She had seen Theresa after Jay kissed her, seen the way she held a hand to the cheek as though savoring the passed moment, and tried to replicate the action. All Atlanta felt was cold spit and the urge to wash her face. 

But Archie had been happy, and she had been on a date with one of her best friends, and wasn’t that what every girl wanted in life? Things could be far worse, both for the date and life in general, so who was she to complain? 

She could grow to like him as he liked her. She just had to give it time.

The pit in her stomach sat heavily and refused to move.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be writing a sequel at some point, but in the meanwhile, hit me up on my tumblr or discord if you want to chat and/or have a request!
> 
> Writeblr blog: @silverssideblog  
> Discord: cloudcover#7167


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